


Runaway [phan]

by oddledodle



Category: Daniel Howell - Fandom, Phan, Phil Lester - Fandom, dan and phil
Genre: DAN AND PHIL - Freeform, M/M, Phan - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-29
Updated: 2018-08-29
Packaged: 2019-06-17 22:03:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,797
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15471060
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/oddledodle/pseuds/oddledodle
Summary: Dan doesn’t know Phil very well, but he has nowhere else to turn when his own home becomes unlivable.





	1. Chapter one

**Phil**

 

  God, three in the morning is such a great time to be awake. It's unhealthy, but I'm wrapped in a warm blanket, playing Fortnite on my Play Station. I hear a few knocks at the door, and with a heavy sigh I leave my controller on the sofa as I get up to answer it. I angrily pull open the door as I hear my character die.

  My expression softens when I see who it is. To my surprise, it isn't a murderer or worse. It's  a scrawny kid that I know from PE. He has a locker next to mine, and we talk every now and then. He seems nice but we never really hang out, which is why I'm confused to see him at my doorstep with a backpack on his back.

  "Dan? What are you doing here? How did you-"

  "Something happened at home. Is it okay if I.. stay here for a bit?" Dan asks, biting his lower lip. He's being vague, but I have a pretty good idea of what's going on. From what he's told me, his parents aren't the most cherishing in the world. 

  "Uhh- yeah! Sure. Of course-" I stutter. I move out of the way of the door and he reluctantly walks inside. I turn on the light, and when I see his face in the warm glow I know he was in danger. His cheek is bruised, his face is littered with littered with scratches and cuts, and his eyes are swollen from crying. 

  "Oh shit- dude what happened?" I ask, shocked. I grab the first aid kit out of a cabinet and open it, grabbing some bandaids and disinfectant. 

  "I'd rather not talk about it," Dan frowns. I'm a little reluctant, but I let it be. He isn't ready to talk and I don't want to force him to do something he doesn't want to do. 

  I pour some rubbing alcohol onto a cotton ball and dab one of his cuts with it. He winces, but doesn't complain. 

  After his wounds are cleaned up as well as I can do in the middle of the night, I decide to tell him the truth. "So, the thing is, you can stay here but I don't think my parents would be okay with it."

  "So, are you going to like, hide me in your closet?"

  _Yes._

  "I have a sleeping bag that you can use. But when my parents are home you don't exist. Got it?"

  "Understood. Thank you so much, Phil. I can't stress enough how much this means to me." 

  "Are you hungry? I have left-over pizza in the fridge."

  "Sounds fantastic." He smiles hesitantly. I get up from the couch and open the fridge, pulling out a box of pepperoni pizza from dinner the night before. I pop a few slices onto a plate and put them in the microwave, stealing another glance at Dan's face.

  Dan seems so much different than he did at school. He isn't bubbly or happy, or going off about something random that I'm not even interested in as he's packing away his PE uniform. He isn't himself as I know him to be. He's broken. 

  The microwave beeps and I stagger to open the door. I cringe when I finally do, knowing full well that my parents will be out of their room to investigate the noise at any moment. 

  "Uhh- fuck," I stammer. The closest thing to a decent hiding spot in reach is the cabinet that has my game controllers, but the space is too small for anyone but a toddler to fit into. 

  "Just hide behind the couch. I'll let you know when it's safe," I whispers. Dan nods and ducks behind the couch just as I hear the door to my parents' room open. 

  "Phil? Are you awake?" My mum asks from upstairs. 

  "Uhh- yeah!" I yell. "Just making pizza!"

  She stops walking at the top of the stairs. "Make sure you get some sleep. We have that teacher conference, tomorrow." 

  "Yeah. Sure," I lie. 

  She leaves back down the hallway and I sigh with relief. "Dan?"

  “Teacher conference? I thought you'd be doing good in school," Dan replies as he stands up from his spot behind the couch. 

  "I'm failing math," I say timidly. 

  “Yikes," he replies quietly.

  "I really should go to sleep. Uh-" I take the pizza out of the microwave and hand him the plate. "Do whatever you want until you want to sleep. I'll grab my sleeping bag for you."

  He smiles reluctantly. "Thank you."

  I open the hallway closet, take out my blue sleeping bag, and toss it to Dan. He flinches, covering his face and closing his eyes.

  “Oh my god.

  "I'm so sorry-"

 "No no. It's alright," Dan says. "I just didn't see it coming." He puts the sleeping bag on the couch and starts eating a piece of pizza.

  "When you do want to sleep, my room is upstairs. The end of the hall to the left. I have an extra pillow in my closet."

  "Thank you, again," Dan smiles.

  I hesitate. "Whatever happened to you... just know that you're safer now." 

 

  "I know."


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dan finally learns what it’s like to feel safe.

**Dan**

My mind is racing with a thousand different thoughts as I lay my head down on Phil's extra pillow. It actually happened. What I was dreading happened. I pull the sleeping bag up to my nose, relishing in the warmth it provides.

On the bright side, Phil was right. I'm safe now. I take in a deep breathe of air. The air in Phil's room is nice and cool because of the open window, and I can see the stars from where I lay on the floor. His room wasn't what I expected. The walls are pained a pastel shade of blue, and his carpet is soft. He has a few paintings on his wall, (one of fish ?) and a small lion plush toy on his dresser. A fish tank sits in the corner of his room, glowing with a black light. A few neon fish swim around each other in circles. It's calming.

-

I wake up to Phil frantically shaking my shoulder. My eyes shoot open with panic, but to my surprise, I'm greeted with his panicked face. "I set an alarm five minutes before I was supposed to wake up."

I groan. "What's happening?" I ask sleepily.

"My parents will be in here to wake me up at any moment-"

"Your parents still wake you up?" I ask.

"Don't ask questions! You need to hide. Like, now."

I get up and walk into his closet, closing the door as quietly as I could. I hear Phil's mom open his door, and a very fake sounding yawn from Phil. It's pretty funny, and I almost laugh.

There's a light switch in his closet, so I flick it on. I look up to see nothing but plaid shirts. His entire closet is just filled with variations of plaid shirts. Like, I knew he wore plaid a lot but.. Jesus. What the hell?

Phil opens the door, startling me. I stumble, falling flat on my face in the process.

Phil laughs, and I stand up. "You have a fuck ton of plaid shirts," I half-whisper, unsure if I'm allowed to be talking at all.

"Yeah? I guess I do have a lot of plaid shirts," Phil laughs. "Okay. So here's the deal. My parents are taking me to that meeting thing. And knowing my parents, we'll probably be gone for an hour or so."

"What am I supposed to do?"

"I don't know? Anything, I guess. I'm kind of new to the whole, 'hiding a boy in my closet' kind of thing."

"Phil? Are you ready?" Phil's mom calls from down the hallway.

Phil pulls on some shoes and grabs a jacket. "Please don't get into too much trouble."

We'll see.

"I won't," I say, biting my lip.

"Good. There's food in the kitchen if you get hungry."

"Thank you-"

"You don't have to thank me. You'd do the same for me."

I would. What he's done for me is more than what my family ever did.

"Bye, Dan," Phil smiles. I can't even choke out a response before he quickly hurries to the car. I watch out the window as the car pulls out of the driveway.

I can't help but smile. I have an hour to do basically whatever I want. More freedom than I've had in a long time.

Still in the clothes I was wearing the night before, I set out on exploring the house. I open a random door and see a king size bed. I assume it's Phil's parents' room, and when I pick up a picture that was on the bedside drawer, I know I'm right. A wedding photo.

Gross.

I go downstairs and open a cabinet, smiling when I'mgreeted with many boxes of cereal. I pour some into a bowl and take a carton of milk out of the fridge. Cereal and TV sounds like a great idea.

Safety. Finally safety.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!! Leave a comment if you enjoyed :)


	3. Chapter Three

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dan and Phil decide to sneak out of the house and see a movie.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you catch any typos please let me know (nicely) because I mostly write these when I’m half asleep.

**Phil**

 

What did Dan do while I was gone? I'm worried more than anything that he went through my room. If he ate my food stash-

"Oh hi, Phil," Dan says. He's sitting on the floor next to my bed, reading a book in the sunlight from the window.

"Uhh, hi."

"Hi," Dan says again. I feel unbelievably awkward. It just now sinks in what I signed myself up for.

There is a boy I hardly know living in my house because something happened at home that I'm too afraid to ask him about, and my parents can't find out or they'll ground me until I'm thirty.

Huh. I kind of fucked up.

But what am I supposed to do? Just let him go back to his house where god knows what happened?

No.

There's no way I would do that.

Just because I don't know him all that well doesn't mean it has to stay like that. I am determined to get to know this kid.

"So.. how is life?"

"Pretty fucking shitty if I do say so myself."

Bad question. 

I feel my phone buzz in my back pocket.

I shoot Dan an unsure look. "No no. Go ahead," he says.

I tap answer. "Hey!" Louise says from the other end. I smile, surprised. "PJ and I are going to the movies. Wanna tag along?" 

"Uhh sure," I reply. I look over at Dan. "Can I bring a friend?"

I just realize upon saying that that my parents will not allow me to leave the house after finding out how bad my grades are today. Nor will it be easy to get Dan out of the house with me without them noticing, but it's better than leaving him here. 

"Sounds cool. We're taking PJ's car. Pick you up at 8?"

"Sure," I say. I hang up the phone. "Okay. We're seeing a film."

"What? Why? What film-"

"I don't know. I kind of panicked. I haven't talked to Louise or PJ in almost a week and freaked out when she said she wanted me to come."

"What, do you have a crush on her or something?" Dan teases.

I laugh. "Funny. No."

He bites his lip.

"The conference didn't exactly go well. I have to do a shit ton of makeup work to get my grade up to a D."

"I'm assuming your parents won't be okay with this plan you're forming."

"Bingo."

"So..?"

"We're sneaking out."

 

**Dan**

 

God, I'm such a burden. Phil could be having the time of his life with his friends right now, but instead he's helping me climb out of his window. He's such a good person. I don't deserve him.

I peer out the window before me. Phil is just now reaching the grass below. It's such a high drop. A long fall. A painful end.

I squint my eyes as I sit on the ledge of the window, feeling my heart beat throughout my whole body. I suck in a deep breath. I sit on the ledge of the window. "Come on, Dan. It isn't as far of a drop as it looks."

I cringe as I push myself away from the window. Phil catches me awkwardly in his arms, and I laugh. I stand up on my feet just as I see the headlights of Phil's friend's car pull in. Phil jogs towards it, motioning for me to follow him.

I open a door in the back and climb in, sitting next to a girl I don't know. Phil sits on the opposite side of her, Phil of course being the only person I know in the car.

"Hey," she says, holding out her hand. I awkwardly shake it. "I'm Louise."

"Uhh, I'm Dan." 

Phil and Louise start talking about something I don't care much for. I stare out of the window for next few minutes until the car stops in the theatre parking lot. I don't even know what movie we're watching, but I walk inside to Phil's left. In the light of the theatre, Louise takes a good look at my face. 

"Oh shit- what happened?" She asks.

"I got into a fight," I say vaguely. Phil raises an eyebrow, but doesn't say anything.

I need to tell him what happened. It's the least I can do compared to everything he's done for me in just 24 hours. He deserves to know what he's protecting me from. 

-

We exit the theatre and get back in the car. This time I'm sitting next to Phil, and I feel safer because of it.

I wasn't paying attention to the movie. If I'm being honest, I don't even remember the name of it or what it was about. I spent the hour and a half thinking; thinking about my mom and my dad; thinking about Louise and Pj and if I'll actually end up becoming their friend; thinking about how I'll hide my bruises when I have to go back to school in two days. What if they send me to the school counselor? Or call my parents..

"You okay?" Phil says quietly. It's just loud enough for me to hear.

"Yeah," I reply back, but I don't even believe myself. Before I even realize it, were back at Phil's House. Home.

I say goodbye and thank you to the two people I didn't know existed before now. "My parents are asleep now," Phil says, pulling his keys out of his pocket. He inserts the key in the door and opens it, cringing when the noise intrudes the quiet atmosphere of the silent street. 

We slip inside the house, closing the door behind us as quietly as possible. He locks it, and we go upstairs, extra careful not to wake up his parents.

After a silent moment sitting on Phil's bed, he looks at me. "You know, I've  never snuck out before now."

Neither have I, but for different reasons, I'm sure. "Why not?" I ask.

"I've always been too afraid to."

"Really? You seemed pretty ballsy climbing out of your window like a badass," I laugh. 

Phil almost looks like he's blushing. "Thanks?"

The room is almost bone-chillingly silent aside from the small hum of the fish tank motor. 

"There's something I need to talk about," I finally spit out.

Phil's expression changes. Not by much, but he seems like he's been waiting for this.

"You're helping me; you're protecting me. You deserve to know why," I say. "I'm not sure why I thought it was a good idea, but I came out to my family yesterday."

Phil looks surprised. I guess he wasn't expecting that. "I'm gay," I say, a little quieter.

Phil, being the most awkward person in the entire galaxy, holds out his hand for a high-five. I slightly smile. "That was the best reaction that you could have had."

Phil laughs, but seeing my expression, it dies off. "I told my parents, and I'd been waiting for that moment for the longest time. I practiced in the mirror exactly what I'd say. I thought it would be perfect." I choke back a sob that I didn't know was coming. It feels like my throat is closing in. _Not now._

"They didn't take it well," I manage to get out. "My dad beat the shit out of me. Over my sexuality. Isn't that stupid? That your own dad, who's raised you your entire life would just beat you until you cry while your mother just watches?" I'm actually crying now. Phil hugs me, and I pull him closer, not wanting it to end. I feel the tears staining my cheeks, but I don't care. A few weeks ago I don't think I'd have ever let someone else see me cry. Things have changed.

I close my eyes and try to sleep. I hear Phil turn the light off and give me a soft blanket.

Safety isn't a word I use lightly, but when I'm with Phil that's all I feel. Safety.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Uh thanks for reading! Xx


	4. Chapter Four

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dan and Phil play uno to calm the nerves, but Phil’s mom might start to realise what’s happening when she isn’t home.

**Dan**

If you tell a lie enough times you'll start to believe it's true. Whether it takes days, weeks, or years, eventually, the version of existence that you've fabricated from the corners of your own mind will be what everyone believes— even yourself.

It's kind of scary that something I've been keeping hidden my entire life has almost been lost from me. I've spent years pretending to be straight; pretending to be into my short-term girlfriend when I was 12, and pretending to agree with my dad when he saw a hot girl and commented on it. I've told myself I was straight so many times that I almost started to believe it. Almost, but not quite.

I know I'm not straight. I knew it when all of my friends were slow-dancing with girls at parties while I sat in the corner, looking at all of the guys I'd never have a chance with. I knew it when my same friends were calling people 'gay' in a derogatory way, and shortly after I stopped talking to them. I know it now as Phil was trying to calm me down and stop me from crying.

He's strange. There's no word that can perfectly describe his personality, and I think they should invent a new one all-together. The sunlight burns my eyes as I look up at the window. "It's funny, isn't it?" I say. My voice is raspy from being asleep. "How in just 48 hours, your life can  flip completely on its axis."

Phil opens his eyes and blinks a few times. "Yeah, I guess it is." He sits up and yawns. He went to sleep in the sleeping bag and let me have the bed. How nice of him.

It's Sunday. School is going to start again tomorrow, and I'm not prepared for that. I only packed a few outfits and I'm not sure how I can get away with taking a shower while Phil's parents are home. I don't think either of us thought any of this through.

Phil saw the worry on my face and knew exactly what I was thinking. "School starts tomorrow," he says as if he just realized it too. "Your bruises are going away, but if it's a problem my mom has makeup somewhere. And I have a few t-shirts you can wear and some jeans. Sound good?"

"Sure," I say uneasily. "Are your parents home?"

"No-"

"I need to take a shower at some point. Better now than later," I say. Phil gets up and grabs gestures to a towel stack in the hall closet.

-

**Phil**

Dan sits down next to me on the couch. His hair is wet and he's wearing black jeans and one of my shirts- a plain black one. "Let's play Uno," I suggest.

Dan shrugs. "Sure."

-

Dan is a quiet person in every situation but this one. He's already screamed a few times and tried to flip over my coffee table, and we've only been playing for twenty minutes.

Dan placed down a red three on top of my blue three. I gritted my teeth as I pulled a card from the deck. "I don't want to go to school tomorrow," Dan says reluctantly.

"I don't either, but we don't have a choice," I say with a frown. School's going to be nothing short of hell tomorrow. Anyone with eyes will be able to see Dan's bruises plain as day, and I don't know how he's going to explain how he got them, if he does. Let alone the fact that we have to walk to school together, and knowing the assholes that want to know everything, there'll  be conspiracy theories by lunch.

There's no good way for this to end. Every possible outcome I can predict leads to something shitty that neither of us wants. 

I'm thankful that my parents work everyday now more than ever, though. At least they're less likely to find out about Dan living here.

Dan frowns, and I put my cards face-down on the table.

"It's going to be okay," I say, but I'm not too sure. It can't go too badly. I mean, it's junior year, not war.

It can't be that bad. I hope.

Dan puts down a card. "Uno," he says sheepishly. I didn't think of him as the type of person to calmly announce that he was winning, especially after the table incidents.

I pick up my cards and put down a shitty one just to get rid of it. As I reach for my phone I hear keys and the door opening. "Shit," I announce.

My mum walks in with a confused look on her face. "You have a friend over?"

"Uhh- yeah! This is Dan-" I start.

"Hi," he says timidly. He's clearly panicking. I take his hand under the table in my attempt to assure him it's okay.

"You should have told me. I would have brought snacks."

"Oh it's fine. I have cookies in my room," I say.

"I'm heading to Tesco. Is there anything you boys want?"

"Uhh-" I look at Dan. He shrugs his shoulders.

"Maltesers and soda would be great," I say. My mum smiles.

"Nice to meet you Dan," she says. "I'll be back in an hour. Call me if you need anything, Phil."

"Uhuh," I say.

She leaves, locking the door behind her. Dan let's out a breathe that he's been holding in.

"You're good. It's okay," I try to reassure him. "She probably just thinks I had you over without telling her, which isn't really anything new. It's fine. I promise,"

"I love Maltesers," he says with a smile.

"Yeah, me too. Who doesn't?"

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!


End file.
